Amy Thomas Brings You All Things Holmes

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Monthly Archives: September 2014

She’s the heroine of the Holmes novels by Laurie R. King. She’s been one of my role models since I was a teenager. Also, move over Poppins, because she’s practically perfect in every way. If you have yet to meet Mary, either run immediately to your local bookstore or click your mouse over to Amazon and nab The Beekeeper’s Apprentice immediately.

This amazing sketch of Mary is an original, gifted to me by the insanely talented Chris Schweizer. Learn more about him and his art here.

Finally, a personal statement on what Mary means to me and to my career as a writer, excerpted from a longer essay:

One gift Russell gave me is something I can barely put into words because it’s changed my life so hugely. In 2011, something in me urged me to give NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) a try. I was unsure of what to write about, and my interest in Sherlock Holmes pointed me toward pastiche, but it was Mary Russell who gave me the courage to try. Her existence made me believe I could actually write a full-length, complete novel about Sherlock Holmes with a feminist twist—Irene Adler was as much of a main character as Holmes. I finished, and, much to my surprise, my novel The Detective and The Woman was picked up for publication soon after. My two subsequent novels starring Adler and Holmes were published in 2013 and 2014. I have no doubt that Mary Russell is a major part of the reason I’m a published, vocational author today, a blessing so big I can’t quantify it.

Mary Russell taught an awkward teenager to dream, a young woman to endure, and an adult to embrace creativity and take up the vocation I’m meant to inhabit. She has been my companion, my role model, and my escape. She’s accompanied me through every challenge, and her strength has become part of who I am. I will be forever grateful for the privilege of knowing her.